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nighean. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
nighean, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
nighean in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
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Irish
Noun
nighean f (genitive singular nighne, nominative plural nighneacha)
- Superseded spelling of níon: Alternative form of iníon
Declension
Further reading
Scottish Gaelic
Etymology
From Old Irish ingen, from Primitive Irish ᚔᚅᚔᚌᚓᚅᚐ (inigena), from Proto-Celtic *enigenā, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁én (“in”) + *ǵenh₁- (“produce, give birth”) (compare Latin indigena (“native”), Ancient Greek ἐγγόνη (engónē, “granddaughter”)).
Pronunciation
Noun
nighean f (dative nighinn, genitive nighinn or nighinne or ìghne or inghinn, plural nigheanan or nigheannan or nighnean or ìghnean or ingheanan)
- daughter, female offspring
- girl
- maiden, young woman
- Synonyms: ainnir, cailin, gruagach, maighdeann, òigh, rìbhinn
- An cluinn thu mi, mo nighean donn? ― Will you listen to me, my brown-haired girl?
Derived terms
References
- ^ Oftedal, M. (1956) A linguistic survey of the Gaelic dialects of Scotland, Vol. III: The Gaelic of Leurbost, Isle of Lewis, Oslo: Norsk Tidsskrift for Sprogvidenskap
- ^ John MacPherson (1945) The Gaelic dialect of North Uist (Thesis), Edinburgh: University of Edinburgh
- ^ Borgstrøm, Carl Hj. (1937) The dialect of Barra in the Outer Hebrides, Oslo: Norsk Tidsskrift for Sprogvidenskap
- ^ Roy Wentworth (2003) Gaelic Words and Phrases From Wester Ross / Faclan is Abairtean à Ros an Iar, Inverness: CLÀR, →ISBN